Happiness is a rich arts scene

Modeling her hat promoting the theme “Happiness is …” Co-chairwoman Cindy Cortese greets attendees to the 22nd annual Luncheon and Fashion Show of the Durango Friends of the Arts at the ballroom of the DoubleTree Hotel on Sept. 28. Cortese’s hat includes photos of things that make her happy, including her 106-year-old grandmother, Sarah Ruby Folsom. The hat was named “Best on Theme.”

SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald

Modeling her hat promoting the theme “Happiness is …” Co-chairwoman Cindy Cortese greets attendees to the 22nd annual Luncheon and Fashion Show of the Durango Friends of the Arts at the ballroom of the DoubleTree Hotel on Sept. 28. Cortese’s hat includes photos of things that make her happy, including her 106-year-old grandmother, Sarah Ruby Folsom. The hat was named “Best on Theme.”

At one of the seminal events of the fall fundraising season, the members of the Durango Friends of the Arts proved that even a 22-year-old event can be made fresh and fun.

DFA’s Silent Auction, Luncheon and Fashion Show was held Sept. 28, at the DoubleTree Hotel, with 185 dressed up and happily schmoozing guests. Before anyone arrived, Co-chairwomen Cindy Cortese and Carol Bruno had marshalled the troops for the big day. And they were troops, with more than 75 people involved one way or another.

Is your favorite thing taking advantage of our beautiful outdoors? Glacier Club donated a game of golf for four and dinner, someone else donated a fly-fishing trip on the Pine River, a fly-fishing rod and hand-tied flies.

Into getting your nails done and facials? Some lucky bidders will be looking fine.

You’re getting the picture.

Chairwoman Pat Lorenzen, Pat Dworkin and Marilyn Garst planned the salad luncheon and made sure all was ready for the festivities.

On entering the ballroom, guests were greeted by exuberant, fun and thoughtful table decorations. Lorenzen judged the decorations, awarding Most Elaborate Table to Diane Welle, Most Humorous to Cortese’s entry, which Janice Martin and Buff Rogers decorated, and Best Table on the Happiness Is ... theme to Lorraine Sufficool, whose friends Sharon Hunter and Renee Waldeck created the joy portrayed. The latter group of ladies are all from Bayfield.

After a salad lunch followed by the DoubleTree’s famous chocolate chip cookies, it was time for mistresses of ceremonies Deborah Uroda and Suzan Lane to take the stage.

The woman have both been active in Snowdown, including the Follies and the Do’s and Don’ts Luncheon, so you have an idea of the flavor of the rest of the event. Funny, risqué and on point – if a little “punny” on occasion.

One of the best lines was Uroda’s.

“My mother spent my first two years teaching me to walk and talk, then the next 16 telling me to sit down and shut up,” she said.

The hat awards are a perennial favorite at this event. Welle, Jackie DiSanto and Phyllis Max selected three winners. Penny Youngflesh’s “Gone Fishing” hat was so “alluring,” as Lane dubbed it, she won Most Humorous. Cortese’s hat took “Best on Theme” for her pillbox, which sported photos of friends and family who make her happy. And Gaylor’s lovely fascinator-style chapeau won her the Most Elaborate honors.

The entertainment was a combination of performances by DFA grant recipients and members’ offerings. It was organized by Chairwoman Maggie Sauer, with Cortese as co-chairwoman, Welty as director and Penny Haney, Rogers, Uroda and Connie Voss chipping in.

First up was the Stillwater Foundation’s jazz combo Grand Central. DFA grants money to the foundation for scholarships so students whose families can’t afford it can pursue their interest in music.

Jesse Ogle is the group’s instructor and guitar accompanist. The rest of the combo is made up of Alicia Whitman on saxophone, Mady Brockway on violin (yes, a jazz combo with not one, but two violinists, and it worked), Zac Gasaway on bass, Tony Williams on piano and double threat Mallory Shanks, as both the second violinist and the vocalist.

I was sitting next to Jaime Marquez, who said Mallory’s voice has a quality that can’t be taught and was at a level far beyond her years. I would say ditto, adding that while she was great at jazz, I’d love to hear her tackle the blues.

Between acts, the style show showed us how to make “Durango casual” striking. The show was organized by chairwoman Karren Little – who also modeled – Sonja Bayly Smith, who also modeled, Dworkin and Joanie Petersen Thomas, who also handled publicity and modeled.

Three very special items were auctioned live. Two started with the garbage cans Waste Management gives its customers, which artists Amy Felker and Bethany Bachman had beautified, in homage to the Dumpster Beautification Project, which DFA also supports. Students at the Robert E. DeNier Youth Center were part of the project.

The garbage cans brought in more than $850, but the big ticket item was Tim Sullivan and Narrow Gauge’s donation of entertainment at a party for three or four hours. After much spirited bidding, the band brought in a whopping $3,500. Sullivan generously showed up at the event to help out and tout his donation.

Haney and Rogers were glowing in white as Angelic Yo Mama’s; Suzy DiSanto’s students from her Take the Lead program for fifth-graders in Durango School District could take on “Dancing with the Stars”; Mona Wood Patterson and Chuck Ford from Merely Players brought their puppet Edith Ann, who is 5½ and loves art.

“It’s more fun to paint in unexpected places,” Edith Ann said, “like the bottoms of your daddy’s shoes and the wall behind the couch.”

Lindy Simmons, representing the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, another grant recipient, didn’t just recite a poem, she wrote one especially for the occasion. She focused on what happiness is for a cowboy working the herd, and it was lyrically beautiful.

And Durango’s Irish songbird, Gemma Kavanagh, brought down the house with the grand finale. After arriving in her most divalicious pale blue glittering gown, and introducing her accompanist, Linda Mack, she began a parody of the song “Memories” from “Cats.”

Cortese found it on YouTube, and the only rendition I found was performed by Pam Peterson, so I’ll give her the credit.

The lyrics had the crowd in stitches, because it was all about the loss of memory in senior moments. Here’s a sample (hint: hum the end of “Memories” as you read):

“What the heck is that guy’s name? He sings with me in choir. Did I turn both the burners off, or is my house on fire! Shoot me, put me out of my misery, or just leave me to wander through Walmart’s parking lot.”

Those who had only seen her on stage in her classical music performances may not have known how funny she is, but they do now.

The end result was DFA record-breakers on all levels – highest totals ever for the silent auction and the luncheon overall, more than $17,000.

Cortese said the group, which has been holding fundraisers all year to fill up its Grant Fund, is prepped to give away the highest amount in its more than two-decade history – more than $47,000.

The money will go to artists and arts organizations in the community, and we will all benefit from that.

Other grant fund recipients in 2012 included the Animas High School Digital Media Arts Program, the Docent Program at the Durango Arts Center, the Durango Children’s Chorale, the Durango Performing Arts Co., Music in the Mountains Goes to School and the San Juan Symphony’s Youth Outreach and Education Program.

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SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
Dressed in period clothing and extravagant hat, Diane Welle enjoys the entertainment at the 22nd annual Durango Friends of the Arts Luncheon and Fashion Show on Sept. 28. Welle’s hat was so tall she had a tough time getting in her car.

SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
Dressed in period clothing and extravagant hat, Diane Welle enjoys the entertainment at the 22nd annual Durango Friends of the Arts Luncheon and Fashion Show on Sept. 28. Welle’s hat was so tall she had a tough time getting in her car.

A table centerpiece created by Janice Martin reflects her interpretation of the theme “Happiness is …” at the 22nd annual Luncheon and Fashion Show of the Durango Friends of the Arts Friday at the DoubleTree Hotel. The table, which Buff Rogers helped decorate, was named “Most Humorous.”

SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald

A table centerpiece created by Janice Martin reflects her interpretation of the theme “Happiness is …” at the 22nd annual Luncheon and Fashion Show of the Durango Friends of the Arts Friday at the DoubleTree Hotel. The table, which Buff Rogers helped decorate, was named “Most Humorous.”